Southern Comfort
by MysticFalls Fanfiction
Summary: A Delena one shot.


**Southern Comfort (OneShot)**

**"**_Alone With You" by Jake Owen_

* * *

The skies were a clear blue with not a cloud in sight. The sun was hovering above the horizon as it slowly began to set in the west. Warm, stagnant air filled the room with a small breeze that crept through the open window of the bedroom. The cream curtains danced as Mother Nature sent another wisp of air through the window and the pages of a journal flicked back and forth. Elena Gilbert filled her lungs with the fresh air as she sat on her windowsill bench with a pen in her hand ready for any thought to be scribbled down into her journal. This was her daily ritual.

Long days of high school drama and mixed emotions came commonly for her and writing it all down was her way of finding relief. Every feeling, every thought, every deep dark secret was held in her journal. She feared it would fall into the wrong hands if anyone were to ever find out she kept it. Not even her parents knew about her sacred journal.

"Elena, Jeremy. Dinner will be ready soon." The nightly call from her mother startled her and she quickly closed her journal. She never set foot on the staircase. She only remained at the bottom hoping her announcement would be heard. Elena knew she was safe, but it still had her on edge.

Tucking her diary away in a safe place, she walked to her mirror and fixed her wind blown hair. She pulled it back into a sleek ponytail and adjusted her maroon blouse that covered up most of her denim shorts. Her classic southern appearance was effortless after all she did live in the south.

All of her life she lived in the same plantation home that belonged to the Gilbert family from generation to generation. Her ancestors created so much history under this roof and around every corner held some tale of her past. It was beautiful home from the street and even more impressive on the inside, thanks to her mother.

"Dinner time." Her brother, Jeremy stated flatly from outside her room. His hair looked like he had just awoken from a nap and his shirt was all wrinkled. Even as her little brother, he could easily pass as her older one. She couldn't figure out where his sudden growth spurt came from, but he was no longer the little boy she use to know.

"I heard." Elena smoothed out her shirt and ignored him.

"Hey, can you cover for me tonight? I want to meet up with a few friends and I know Mom and Dad aren't going to let me out of the house." He crossed his arms and leaned up against the wooden doorframe.

"I can only cover for you so many times, Jer. Your grades are suffering. I over heard Mom and Dad talking about it last night." She faced him and put on her older sister act. "Maybe you should start focusing on school and less on having fun. Then you wouldn't need a tutor anymore."

"Dad is wasting my time and his money with hiring that history tutor." Jeremy said rolling his eyes.

"You wouldn't be if you actually tried and cared." Elena pleaded.

Squinting his eyes and shaking his head, Jeremy smiled. "You only want to keep the tutor around so you can drool all over him."

"What?" She asked taken a back by his comment.

"I'm not dumb Elena. I see that you like him." He said.

"Just because I come home from school and go to get a drink of water in the same room you two are in does not mean I like the guy." She argued with him. The truth was Jeremy's tutor was very attractive, but off limits.

His name was Damon Salvatore and he was a friend of her father's. They were council members on the town board. Having a historic last name and being tied to the community meant attending weekly meetings and discussing all things that didn't sound interesting at all. Elena had only been introduced briefly the day he first showed up for Jeremy's first tutoring session. A hello and my name is, was all that was exchanged. However, Elena couldn't help but have her schoolgirl crush on him. He was the definition of tall, dark, and handsome. His subtle bad boy appearance was another key factor into her attraction. What girl didn't fall for a guy like that at one time or another?

He was definitely buried deep in her journal and she grew nervous knowing even though she never had to admit her attraction to him out loud, it was down on paper. There was proof she had daydreams about that man.

"Sure." The eye rolling returned and he departed from her doorway. Elena followed him down the stairs, but was halted in her tracks as she saw her father greeting a very familiar face at the door.

"Good to see you, Damon. Please come in." Her father chimed and shook his hand. "Oh, Jeremy and Elena I forgot to tell you, I invited Damon here to join us for dinner tonight."

"Great." Jeremy said under his breath loud enough for her to hear.

Elena smiled weakly and held onto the railing as she walked down the stairs carefully. A weight felt like it was sitting on her chest as her nerves from only moments from before resurfaced again. He was here in her home on non-business like terms. When he was here for tutoring his attention was focused on Jeremy and she could go unseen. Now, she hated that he could focus in on her if he so pleased. She liked admiring him from a far.

"Thank you for having me." Damon graciously stated and flicked his bright blue eyes to her.

Diverting his stare, Elena rushed quickly down the stairs not caring if she looked foolish and slipped into the dining room. She sat down in her usual seat and tried to steady her breath. Jeremy was sitting opposite of her and shook his head in anger. "I see and deal with the guy enough. Now he is coming to dinner?!"

"Be nice." She whispered as her father and Damon came into the room. Her mother casually said her hello and set the table. The smell of baked chicken and potatoes filled the room and instantly it made her feel slightly better. Comfort food always put her at ease.

"Take a seat wherever you like. I'll go help in the kitchen." Her father left the room leaving only awkward tension between the three of them.

"Do you mind?" Damon asked as he pointed to the seat next to her. She wanted to tell him yes, but being polite and too shy to speak, she shook her head no and he joined her and Jeremy at the table.

Once the food was all laid out and everyone's plates were filled, Elena was easing into the situation better. Her father and mother carried on most of the conversation with Damon, while her and Jeremy sat quietly eating their meals. The discussion of Jeremy's progress was a hot topic and the bullshit that Jeremy was spraying made her want to laugh. She was even more surprised to hear Damon play along with his antics. She knew well enough that few words were spoken between them during tutoring meetings and Jeremy's progress was going nowhere. Maybe for the sake of friendship and the fact that he was being paid by her father on the side was probably why Damon pretended to inform her family on how well Jeremy was doing.

In the living room, the phone rang loudly and her father excused herself from the table. When he returned he looked serious and pushed in his chair. "The council needs me. I'm sorry to have to leave like this, but I have to go."

"Do they need all the council members?" Damon asked preparing himself to up and leave too.

"No, no. They only need a few of us." He assured him. "You're fine. Stay and enjoy the rest of your night."

Elena glanced over at Damon, who almost looked relieved to not have to attend to some official council meeting and let his shoulders relax. He took a sip of his wine that her mother had poured for him. She tried to take her eyes off him unnoticeably before she had Jeremy attempting to fuel the fire that did not need to be lit.

Without further notice, her father left the room and he was out the door. Only moments later the phone rang again and this time when her mother returned she too had the same expression her father wore. "Looks like the universe is telling us we won't be ending this meal together. You're aunt called and she needs me. I'm sorry about this, Damon." She looked apologetic.

"Is everything okay with Aunt Jenna?" Elena asked.

"She got in an accident, but she is okay. I'm going to the hospital to pick her up." She informed them. "Please don't worry. If she says she is fine, then she is fine."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Damon spoke up again.

The universe was sending its signs tonight. It was pointing all its arrows to her and Damon. She knew the moment her mother was out that door and on the way to hospital Jeremy would dip out too. No need for her to cover for him tonight if neither of her parent's would be home until late. She looked to him and mouthed, _Don't leave me here with him.,_ but he wickedly smiled at her and placed his napkin on the table.

Her mother quickly gathered her things and rushed out the door. Jeremy waited a whole five minutes before he announced that he too was leaving and said his goodbyes. The front door slammed and Elena suddenly felt terrified to be alone in a room with him.

"And then there were two." He joked and she forced out laughter.

"I'm going to clean up if you're done." She stood up and collected the dirty dishes. "I'm sure you don't want to stick around since everyone left."

"Not everyone." He said and she glanced up at him. Why was there a smile on his face? Even though he looked absolutely gorgeous flashing her a smile, she hated that he was doing it. "Let me help you."

"You don't have to." Elena assured him, but as she did he picked up his own plate and followed her into the kitchen.

"I insist." Damon took the plates out her hands.

She turned on her heel and walked back into the dining room and gathered the rest of the leftovers and dirty plates. Back in the kitchen Damon was already washing and drying the dinnerware making himself feel right at home. Trying to ignore him, she opened the fridge and placed the leftovers in it.

"I hope I'm not intruding on your night." He said looking over his shoulder. "I'll clean up the rest of these and then be on my way."

"No," Elena slapped her forehead and leaned her hand on the counter. "I'm just caught off guard by everyone leaving. You're more than welcome to stay, after all you are a family friend."

Damon flashed her another smirk of his causing wrinkles to form in his forehead. It was cute and she tried to hide the smile she so badly wanted to return. This was torture having this alone time with him. She knew how much she liked him and she had the opportunity to finally befriend him. However, she couldn't do it. She was too nervous too. It was the fact that he was a little bit older and her father's friend that made it all too difficult.

"May I suggest something?" He asked and she looked to him with confusion. He grabbed a wine glass and took the bottle of red wine that her mother had been serving earlier and poured it. Then he handed it to her. "Sit back and relax. I'll clean and you just do whatever you feel like."

"My mother would kill me right now and probably you too, if she knew I was having a glass of wine." Elena told him considering she wasn't of legal drinking age just yet.

Damon looked around the kitchen. "I don't see your mother or father here right now. Live a little."

Hesitant to taking the glass from him, she wasn't really sure what his intentions were. An older man or even a guy for that matter pouring a girl a drink especially one who secretly liked him only meant something was up. She took the glass from him anyways and sipped on it. Her mind was wandering too much. He was just being nice and she was jumping too much to conclusions.

As Damon finished up cleaning and drying the dishes, he too poured himself a glass. Elena pulled herself up onto the counter to take a seat and she sipped the delicious wine. She didn't say much to him because she didn't know what to say to him, but she did admire him from behind. This was a skill of hers. His sleeves were rolled up as the water and suds splashed around. Even this small gesture made her like him more.

"Done." He said clapping his hands together and sipping his wine.

"Why do you put up with Jeremy?" She spat out the question knowing it was a safe topic to begin with. Now that he wasn't occupied with cleaning, his attention was on her.

"I want to help him, its just he doesn't want the help." Damon explained and sighed. "I do it because your Dad is a good friend of mine and I know he wants Jeremy to do good in school. I know he is going to figure out that he isn't trying once he sees his grades, but for now I'm just playing along."

"My next question is then how much is he paying you?" Elena raised her eyebrows. "Be honest. You know that's the reason you really are staying with this whole thing."

"Your father is generous. He doesn't need to do that but I take it because I sort of need it at the moment." He shrugged his shoulders and confessed. Finishing his glass of wine, he set it down next to her letting his hand brush against her leg. It sent shivers down he spine. "It's not the only reason though."

"What other possible reason could keep you around?" She asked feeling more comfortable around him thanks to the wine.

"Well," He bowed his head. "I'm pretty sure the other reason would get me booted from having this job and having your father very unhappy with me."

She wasn't sure where he was going with his answer exactly, but her sudden ease with him was drifting away. Nerves and knots in her stomach formed as he pressed his hand next to her knee on the counter. She looked down at it and up at him. Damon was staring at her with his blue eyes and she slowly set her glass down.

"Why is that?" She probed further with him.

Damon sighed loudly and said, "Because I'm attracted to his daughter."

There it was. His confession that she had only dreamed about and now it was actually happening. Her mouth grew dry and she twirled her hair nervously. She was waiting for his next move. Was he going to say something? Should she say something? Was he going to kiss her? Or was he not going to do anything at all?

"Oh." Elena uttered not knowing what to say to that.

"I know it's not right, but I have felt this way for awhile. I haven't said or done anything because I respect your father and your family." He explained. "But now when it's just us, I can't help but want to do things with you."

"Like what?"' She asked knowing she shouldn't encourage this situation. If her parents walked through the door right now they both would be screwed.

Placing his other hand next to her opposite knee on the counter he leaned in and parted his lips. She stayed still feeling helpless and hormonal. He paused as he looked to her almost asking permission without saying it that he could kiss her. She barely nodded her head clarifying that it was fine that he did and the next thing she knew his lips were upon hers. Soft and sweet from the red wine, he tasted good as his lips lingered on hers. It was a delicate kiss and as he pulled away slowly from her she was already wishing he hadn't.

Damon exhaled as he stared at her closely again and moved in for the next kiss. This time it wasn't as delicate as the first. His lips were more forceful and puckered. Her arms raised up and circled around his neck pulling him in closer. His hands detached from the counter and skimmed her back dragging her closer to the edge of the counter. Their bodies were pressed against one another and immediately they were making out. Elena plunged her fingers into his hair and the other down his back. Her body trembled as she fell deeper into the moment.

Kiss after kiss left her wanting more. She didn't want this moment to end. His scent, his taste, his body up against hers made the room feel warmer than it actually was. She couldn't resist him. All this time of wondering what it would be like to kiss him and finally she was living it. In the back of her mind though, she knew this moment did have to end. This forming relationship was a forbidden one and the longer they dragged it out meant they would get in way over their heads.

"Damon." She muttered as his lips glided down her chin to her neck. His timely decision was making this difficult. "Stop. Stop."

"Why?" He asked looking bewildered.

"Cause you're right this isn't appropriate." Elena closed her eyes and let her arms fall to her side. "I like you and you like me, but what exactly is going on here?"

"What is going on is we're just having fun. Don't think too much about what's happening." Damon told her leaning down to talk and touching her hair. "Just live in the moment."

"The moment." She stated and sighed.

"This is definitely not how I pictured the night to go, but I'm glad it did work out this way." He said in a soft tone. "Can we just get back to enjoying this moment, please?"

This night didn't have to go anywhere she didn't want it to. Her parents, especially her father didn't and wouldn't have to know about what went on between the two of them tonight. She wanted to live in the moment and live it as long as she could because she didn't know if this would ever happen again. Returning her lips back on to his, he kissed her over and over again. The heat was rising again between. The warm weather of the south wasn't helping the moment, but she could careless. All she wanted was to kiss him until her mouth fell off.

Now this is what she liked to call a little southern comfort.


End file.
